Royal Street Bus Garage Redevelopment

What's New?

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is planning to proceed with redevelopment of the existing Royal Street Bus Garage site. At the request of the City, WMATA has agreed to work with the City and community regarding the redevelopment of the site. This site is intended to provide information regarding the project, the Royal Street Bus Garage Ad hoc Advisory Committee, and all other information about the redevelopment of this site.

The Royal Street Bus Garage Ad hoc Advisory Committee was created to provide guidance to the City and WMATA regarding the redevelopment of the site. Information about the mission as well as the community meeting videos, presentations, and meeting materials are located here.

Other Information

In July 2013, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board (WMATA) approved for future sale the Royal Street bus garage located between Royal Street and North Pitt Street in Old Town North. The obsolete Alexandria facility will be replaced by a new WMATA bus garage located in Fairfax County. WMATA plans to issue a solicitation for sale of the Royal Street site upon groundbreaking of the new Fairfax bus garage.

In November 2013, WMATA broke ground on its new bus facility site located off Cinderbed Road, in an industrial park in the Newington area of Fairfax County. It will service approximately 150 buses, which is about double the capacity of the Royal Street facility and provide a better and safer work environment for WMATA employees. The new facility also allows WMATA to continue its conversion to a hybrid diesel fleet, as the Royal Street garage was too small to accommodate these larger hybrid buses. Congressman Jim Moran was instrumental in helping obtain some federal funding for this facility. Fairfax Supervisor McKay advocated for this bus maintenance site to reside within his own district despite some neighborhood resistance which included a land use lawsuit that went to the VA Supreme Court. The Court affirmed Fairfax County’s handling of the matter. WMATA and City staff are discussing the process for WMATA competitively seeking a buyer/developer for the Royal Street site.